Kaiser Family Foundation Issue Brief: “Are Premium Subsidies Available in States with a Federally-run Marketplace? A Guide to the Supreme Court Argument in King v. Burwell,” by MaryBeth Musumeci (Februay 2015, .pdf format, 9p.).

US Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Hearing Testimony: “Recalibrating Regulation of Colleges and Universities: A Report from the Task Force on Government Regulation of Higher Education,” a hearing held February 24, 2015 (witness statements available .pdf format, video of the hearing available in Flash format, running time 1 hour 50 minutes).

US Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Hearing Testimony: “Medical and Public Health Preparedness and Response: Are We Ready for Future Threats?” a hearing held February 26, 2015 (witness statements available .pdf format, video of the hearing available in Flash format, running time 1 hour 53 minutes).

February 25, 2015

Population Studies Center [University of Pennsylvania] Working Paper: “The Consequences of Abortion and Contraception Policies on Young Women’s Reproductive Choices, Schooling and Labor Supply,” by Diego Amador (WPS 14-6, November 2014, .pdf format, 57p.). Note: Links to the abstract and the full text of the paper available at:

Medical Expenditure Panel Survey Data Release: The US Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has released a new MEPS data file (February 2015, data in .zip or self decompressing [.exe] ASCII text and SAS Transport format, with documentation in HTML and .pdf format, and SAS and SPSS programming statements in ASCII format).

Department of Economics and Social Affairs Working Paper: “The Global Consumption and Income Project (GCIP): An Introduction and Preliminary Findings,” by Rahul Lahoti, Arjun Jayadev, and Sanjay G. Reddy (DWP/140, January 2015, .pdf format, 24p.).

Abstract:

We introduce two separate datasets (The Global Consumption Dataset (GCD) and The Global Income Dataset (GID)) containing an unprecedented portrait of consumption and income of persons over time, within and across countries, around the world. The benchmark version of the dataset presents estimates in PPP units of monthly real consumption and income for every decile of the population (a ‘consumption/income profile’) for 133 countries and more than half a century (1960-2012). We describe the construction of the datasets and demonstrate some possible uses by presenting preliminary results concerning the consumption distribution, poverty and inequality for the world and specific country aggregates.

February 24, 2015

University of Wisconsin Center for Demography and Ecology Working Paper: “Intermarriage and Social Exclusion in China,” by Yu Wang and Christine R. Schwartz (Working Paper 2015-01, February 2015, .pdf format, 42p.).

Abstract:

Hukou is a key status marker in contemporary China. Urban Hukou status conveys large economic benefits such as preferential access to good schools, prestigious occupations, and state-subsidized welfare benefits. As such, trends in Hukou intermarriage convey important but previously underappreciated information about social mobility in China. This article examines trends in Hukou intermarriage between 1958 and 2008. We find that Hukou intermarriage is surprisingly common and has grown steadily since 1985. Hypotheses derived from Western contexts do little to explain this trend. Educational expansion, changes in availability, and increased inequality each fail to explain the trend in ways predicted in prior work. A common hypothesis is that increased inequality should reduce intermarriage by making it more costly for individuals to “marry down.” We find the opposite in China–increasing inequality is associated with increasing Hukou intermarriage, which suggests that the costs of marrying down may be outweighed by the incentives in this context. Our results also suggest that administrative changes in the ease of Hukou conversion play a large role in increased intermarriage. These findings highlight the uniqueness of the Chinese case and suggest that standard hypotheses about assortative mating may not be applicable in contexts with strong state controlled social boundaries.

Maryland Population Research Center [University of Maryland] Working Paper: “Race, Family Status and Young Women’s Residential and Financial Dependency: 1970-2010,” by Joan Kahn, Javier Garcia-Manglano, and Frances Goldscheider (MPRC-2015-005, February 2015, .pdf format, 40p.). Note: Links to the abstract and the full text of the paper available at:

American Enterprise Institute Report: “States of change: The demographic evolution of the American electorate, 1974-2060,” by Ruy Teixeira, William H. Frey, and Robert Griffin (February 2015, .pdf format, 150p.).

Proceedings of the National Academy of Science Article Abstract: “Validating vignette and conjoint survey experiments against real-world behavior,” by Jens Hainmueller, Dominik Hangartner, and Teppei Yamamoto (Vol. 112, No. 8, February 2015, .pdf and HTML format, p. 2395-2400). Note: PNAS is providing open access to the full-text of this article.

National Academies Press Monograph: Realizing the Potential of the American Community Survey: Challenges, Tradeoffs, and Opportunities, (National Research Council, ISBN: 978-0-309-36678-6, .pdf and OpenBook format, 314p.). Note: NAP requires free registration before providing a .pdf copy. Ordering information for a print copy is available at the site.

US House Energy and Commerce Committee, Subcommittee on Communications and Technology Hearing Testimony: “The Uncertain Future of the Internet,” a hearing held Feb. 25, 2015 (witness statements available in .pdf format).

University of Wisconsin Data and Information Service Center Country Statistical Yearbook Update. Our Country Statistical Yearbook page has added links to several yearbooks. Note: check carefully to see if the link is to a hypertext or yearbook, or information about a print one, as well as the language of the yearbook. Our Country Statistical Yearbook page now points to compendia for 152 countries. Unless otherwise noted, all are in .pdf format.

National Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research [CALDER] Working Papers:

A. “Accountability Pressure and Non-Achievement Student Behaviors,” by John B. Holbein and Helen Ladd (Working Paper No. 122, February 2015, .pdf format, 53p.). Note: Links to the abstract and the full text of the paper available at: